A device exploded before 1 AM Monday while the package it was in was being examined by a bomb squad robot. near an Elizabeth, NJ transit station, according to Elizabeth Mayor Christian J. Bollwage, who explained the robot was “cutting into the device when it exploded.” The mayor noted it was “an explosive device” with an estimated five explosives. He suggested that “based on the loudness, I think people could have been severely hurt or injured if they had been in the vicinity.”
According to the Mayor, two men discovered the package in a waste basket on North Broad Street and Julian Place around 9:30 PM. He said they took the package “because they thought it was of some value,” but when they spotted wires and a pipe inside, they notified Police. The Union County Bomb Squad was alerted and brought its bomb handling robot. “The drone indicated it could be suspicious and it could be a live bomb,” Bollwage said.
The FBI and NJ State Police are on the scene.